A Herd of Word Nerds

Alright, alright, you've caught me.  I'm writing another blog.  I know that I'm not so good at these things.  Don't expect another one for a while, either.  Maybe I'll write one or two over break.  We'll just have to find out.

I'm not going to do another one of those "let me talk about (insert broad topic here) for the next 5 years", have no fear.  I felt kind of guilty about the last one, so I added pictures to make it more interesting.

You know what's silly?  Or maybe not so silly.  The first thing that I did when I visited home over Halloween weekend was play the piano.  The first thing that I did when I stepped in my house over Thanksgiving Break was play the piano.  And I bet that the first thing I do when I go home after finals is...  You've guessed it.  Play the piano.

I never realized how much I love to play until I didn't have the luxury of playing whenever I wanted.  We were without a piano for quite a few years, and it absolutely killed me.  I found myself staring enviously at other peoples' pianos, wishing that I knew a cool enough song to play in front of other people.

I've always been a music lover.  Actually, more like a music collector.  I love experiencing new sounds and musicians and putting it all on my computer so that I can listen to it whenever I want.  I love being able to listen to hours of music that I don't recognize on my own iTunes.  Thank you, One Track Mind, largehearted boy, Said the Gramophone, and especially, Blalock's monthly Indie/Rock Playlist , for meeting all of my indie music needs.  There's your shout-out.

But, I didn't know that I actually liked to play, as I said, until I couldn't.  A few months before I left for college, we got a new piano, and I loved it.  I started listening to all sorts of pianists again, searching for sheet music that I thought I might be able to play.  Some songs, I found, I learned, and I loved.  One song I discovered that my hands were physically unable to play.  (That was such a bummer.)  Other songs, I can only worship from afar, so to speak.  Maybe, some day, I'll be able to play them.

Now what is the point of that story?  I don't know.  I just wanted to tell you.  I bet that many of you didn't even know that I play an instrument, let alone am in love with it.  Just like many of you didn't know that I write, let alone am in love with it.  Now that I think about it, there's probably a lot that you don't know about me.

I am writing constantly, without pen and paper.  I am in an eternal state of composing.  When I get bored, I write stories in my head.  I make up situations and dialogues and try to describe things that I see.  I know I'm a word nerd; I'm perfectly okay with it.  I treat it as an art, not just a means of self-expression.  Sometimes the creation is just as exciting as the finished product.

If you're ever wondering why I have such a strange expression on my face, now you might know the reason.  Because, in my little world, something awesome is happening, or something awful, something dramatic that could only happen in a book or movie.  Or maybe I'm just saying the things that I really want to, the things that you'll never get to hear.  The things that even I don't know what I'm thinking sometimes.  And that happens a lot.

This is the world of Dain.  Hop aboard, enjoy your stay!